icelandknight

First I must say the music was very... approriate. One always thought one HAD the PLOT... Then one didn't. Each plot twist made this movie different than one expected. Also surprising was the level of detail, compared to other "lost in the woods" movies. So "easy" to make "lost in the woods" movies... but to include a science angle, and bunkers, as well as somewhat lofty elements from myths, was also very unexpected, but exiremely appreciated. The film has many ENDS... and just when you think "ok, this MUST be it"... There's MORE. To a fine excess. Its got its "slow" parts, and I can understand some reviewers may have found those moments "dull"... but they set the scene, for a more immersive plot, and give the viewers a taste of being stuck somewhere. I'd compare this to "Invasion of the Body Snatches" meets "The Ritual". Elements also took me to computer games like "Metro" and "FarCry" with shadows of underground critters, tunnels and bunkers. Also, to me, this was a pleasant and optimistic movie, opening possibilities of more than we know, hidden in our world. I love that. Interaction with "Hidden People" of legend is well known in, for example, Iceland.

They had an AMAZING chance to have a disillusioned Nandor join a bunch of OTHER / BETTER vampires... Instead they make up some story with a bunch of humans. I watched it, but was so disappointed. Much of it was fast-forward-past material. The fireworks were a pointless waste of the budget, but there was SO much wrong with this episode. Colin's excitement felt out of place, though he was the only "excited" Nandor follower. The rest had their own agendas. Its was disjointed and all over the place. The other few episodes were not much better, but at æeast one felt a bit "entertained". Why have a camera crew catch some boring events and not just edit those out. Exactly. Like so much from this episode. It was just tedious, but could have been so much better. (IMO)

Confession: I DO love "slow burn" movies. This one is "my pace"... Just calm, great scenes, slow attention to detail. Its almost like a testiment to the greatness of the Director (& Editor). The "detective" is not reallty interested in taking the case, it is almost forced on her, (like us, watching it, so we "identify") but her supervisor knows she is the right person for this case. The police are stumped, baffled, this is beyond them. This case requires the gentle but thorough detective work of someone who can put herself in the mind of the victim, whom no one knows the identity of. So, she flows into action, in her own calm way. Example: The amazing scene of her discovering the victim's classic car. Its like we are discovering it with her... and it blows the audience away, as much as it does the character we are watching. Personally I would have wanted (added) some scenes where she drives it... To see the vehicle on the road, as the detective, already established as being "inappropriate", puts herself in the frame of mind of the victim. Its excellent... but would have been "too much". I totally understand why it was a MOMENT, and then we save that moment, as she touches the car, for us... who cannot. It was just so beautiful... and started, without a fuss. Nice.

The "wrapping up" is regarded by many as "rushed"... but, it doesn't really "matter". What matters is... all the scenes that got us there. Scenes we lived through, with the detective. THAT is the movie. All those amazing scenes, ARE the movie. Not the end.

Its like saying a work of art, paintakingly worked on by an artist, for months, even years, is just... some splashes of paint here and there. -- That's all a painting is... to some people.

To others it is... The Mona Lisa.